March 18, 2010
BRONX, N.Y. - After two wins at home against Seton Hall on Wednesday, Fordham will once again take to the road to compete at the James Madison University/Days Inn Invitational over the weekend, its final weekend tournament of the season.
In Harrisonburg, Va., the Rams will square off against host school, James Madison, twice, Pittsburgh, twice and Winthrop over the course of three days, March 19-21. Fordham (15-5) will be making their second trip ever to the James Madison Tournament, although the Rams and host school, JMU, played against eachother last in 2007.
Fordham was last at the Invitational in 2003, and left Virginia with a 4-1 record.
This is Fordham’s second trip to Virginia this season. The Rams opened 2010 at the Lancer Leadoff Classic (Feb. 20-21), which was moved from Farmville, Va. to Newport News, Va. due to weather. Fordham went 3-1 at the Lancer Leadoff Classic.
The games at JMU will be broadcast live via JMUSports.com.
AT THE JAMES MADISON INVITATIONAL
• The last time Fordham was in a tournament hosted by James Madison University it was in 2003. The Rams went 3-1 in the invitational, with a 6-5 victory over St. Francis (PA) and a 1-0 win over UMBC. JMU and Fordham split with a 1-2 Fordham loss in the first game and a 3-1 victory in the final match up.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• Pittsburgh is 8-9 so far this season. The Panthers started at the Florida Atlantic Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla. They went 2-3 with wins only over Minnesota. Pittsburgh was 3-1 at the Morehead State Invite, splitting wins against Morehead State, losing 3-0 in the first game and winning 3-2 in the second.
• Against common Fordham opponents, the Panthers are 1-2 with a 3-0 loss to Quinnipiac in addition to the Morehead series.
• The Panthers are coming off a 7-5 victory over Maine and a tough one-run loss in extra-innings to Jacksonville State to end their run at the USF Under Armour Invitational 2-2.
• The Panthers are led by Ashley Amistade who is batting .333 in 17 games with nine runs, 18 hits and three RBI. Pitt’s RBI leader is Holly Stevens who has tallied seven runs, 13 hits with three home runs and two doubles. She is batting .255 in 17 games.
• In the cirlcle, the Panthers have a trio of starters who have seen similiar time. Kayla Zinger (2-1) is the team’s ERA leader with a 0.81. Cory Berliner has the best record of 4-3 in 11 appearances and nine starts. Alyssa O’Connell has started seven games and has a 2-4 record and 2.21 ERA. Berliner has 30 strikeouts while O’Connell has 27.
• Pittsburgh leads the series against Fordham 1-0, with a 4-0 win in 1999.
• The match up will be the second BIG EAST-Fordham contest in three days.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
• James Madison is 10-11 on the season and are coming off a doubleheader against Longwood on March 17. Madison picked up a 9-8 come-from-behind win in game one before dropping game two 16-14. The 30 combined runs was the highest scoring total for a JMU game in its nine-year history, breaking the mark of 21 runs scored in an 11-10 loss to Coastal Carolina on March 11, 2007.
• Head coach Katie Flynn recorded her 400th career win in the first game against the Lancers. The only coach in school history, Flynn has a career mark of 400-381 and is 240-207 at JMU.
• JMU has played four of Fordham’s opponents so far. Against them, the Dukes have a 2-4 record with the win against Longwood and a 5-4 victory over Seton Hall (March 5). James Madison lost 11-0 to Georgia Tech (March 6), 3-1 to Mercer (March 7) and 10-3 to Central Michigan (March 14).
• Shannon Moxey leads JMU with a .365 batting average. She leads the Dukes in runs (15), hits (23) and walks (8). Casey Mansfield is the Dukes’ RBI-leader with 15.
• James Madison leads the series against Fordham, 4-3. In 2003, the Dukes and Rams played eachother three times. JMU won the first game 3-1 in the ‘03 season-opener. The teams split games at the James Madison Invitational later in the season. The teams last met in 2007 at the ECU Pirate Clash in Greenvile, N.C. Fordham lost to JMU 3-2.
SCOUTING THE EAGLES
• Winthrop is 12-6 on the season, led by Pearl Coleshill who is batting .411. Coleshill has tallied 12 runs, 23 hits, four doubles, one triple and a home run with nine RBI. Chelsey Schoenfeldt is the team’s RBI-leader with 11.
• In the circle, they are led by Cari Wooldridge, two-time Big South Pitcher of the Week, with a 1.80 ERA and a 6-5 record in 13 appearances with 70 strikeouts. • Withrop was on a six-game winning streak before North Florida defeated them 3-0 on March 13.
• To date, Winthrop and Fordham haven’t played any common opponents.
• This is the first meeting between the two teams.
VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK
• JMU debuted it’s brand-new state-of-the art facility on Wednesday, March 17 with a doubleheader with Longwood. The complex is a 625-seat facility. The first pitch was thrown out by former JMU pitcher Leah Conley (2002-03) to former catcher Ashlee Schenk (2002-05), the first battery in program history.
• Prior to this season, Madison softball played all of its home games during it eight-year existence at the JMU Softball complex. The Dukes went 95-52 (.644) in 146 games at the old park.
• The new stadium features a new press box, sunken dugouts, chair-back seating and lights, allowing for the first home night games in program history. The construction included a $1 million indoor renovation that includes new space for offices, locker rooms, a team room, strength and conditioning, indoor practice facilities and batting cages.
LAST TIME OUT
• Fordham hosted Seton Hall in a mid-week, non-conference doubleheader on March 17 in the Rams’ home-opener.
• Fordham defeated Seton Hall, 8-0, in a one-hit, five-inning victory in game one of the double header. The Rams’ sophomore pitcher Jen Mineau struck out 11 batters, allowing just three on the bases, while at the plate the Rams tallied nine hits to the Pirates’ one, including another two-run homer by senior Erin Fisher.
• In the second game, the Rams won 3-0, scoring all their runs in the second inning. Sophomore Nicole Callahan, recorded her second RBI-single of the afternoon and junior hurler Chelsea Plimpton set a season-best record with eight strike outs in seven innings.
• With the wins, Fordham is now 13-2 in home-openers.
AT THE PLATE - STATISTICAL LEADERS
• With two homeruns, five RBI and a 1.000 slugging percentage at the Springhill Suites Buckhead Classic and 2-for-3 against Seton Hall with three runs, two hits, two RBI and a homerun, senior Erin Fisher has topped the Fordham stats for batting average with .364. Fisher has started all 20 games, is 20-for-55 with 15 runs, 15 RBI, two doubles, a triple and six homeruns. She boasts a .764 slugging percentage, up from .712 on March 14. Fisher ties junior Beckah Wiggins for stolen base perfection with 5 bases for 5 attempts.
• Junior Jocelyn Dearborn is close behind Fisher with a batting average of .328. She’s hit 20 in 61 at bats with eight runs, four doubles, two triples and seven RBI. She leads the team in walks with eight.
A PERFECT STEAL
• Four Fordham rams are perfect in stolen base attempts this season. Senior Erin Fisher leads the way with 7-for-7, sophomore Lindsey Kay Bright is 6-for-6, junior Beckah Wiggins is 5-for-5 and junior Jocelyn Dearborn is 4-for-4.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Five Fordham starters are hitting .271 and over for a combined 91 hits, 48 RBI, 46 runs, 10 homeruns and an average batting average 0.315.
PLIMPTON SHUTS OUT SETON HALL
• Junior Chelsea Plimpton (2-2) got her second win of the season and first complete game shutout with a 3-0 victory over Seton Hall on Wednesday. Plimpton’s three-hit victory was her third career shutout with Fordham. The junior also tallied eight strikeouts, a season-best performance thus far.
ON DECK
• Fordham has a doubleheader at St. Peter’s on March 24, starting at 3 p.m., before starting conference play on March 28 at Dayton.
